Birds of Prey(Real Life Fairytale-Book 1)
by MckennaTennyson-Harper12
Summary: Mckenna Tennyson was never a normal kid. She'd been an orphan all her life, a thief and then pickpocket for some of that time, and then was adopted by Green Arrow and Black Canary. Next thing she knows, she finds herself thrown into the world of supers as Mockingjay, and her birth parents, who apparently fairytale characters, come looking for her? Nope; normal can't describe her.
1. The Thief and the Rich Folk

Mckenna Ava Tennyson walked through the Star City streets, ignoring the growling of her stomach as she walked around trying to figure out who her next pickpocket victim would be. She spotted Oliver Queen and put her head down, walking in such a way that she'd 'accidentally bump into him' and his wallet would end up in her small, greasy-gloved hands. Call her selfish, but she'd learned to survive on pickpocket money ever since Green Arrow and his little gang started fending for the city. And she was hungry, and in desperate need of clean clothes! It wasn't like she planned to never return his wallet, or use his credit cards. She only used cash; it was her way of being nice to the people she stole from.

When she 'bumped' into him and took his wallet, she said, "Sorry Mr. Queen. I didn't look where I was going."

He shrugged her off, putting a hand on her shoulder and saying, "It's okay kid. Just get home before dark and we'll call it good."

She nodded, running off towards her 'home', only she didn't go home. She went to a children's clothing store and bought some clean t-shirts, jeans, and underwear. Thankfully, she had plenty left over to fill her fridge and pantries. As soon as she had her groceries, she went to her usual living space; an old, abandoned apartment on the shady side of Star City. It wasn't much of a life, and she knew that, but she, like all of the living rough kids in the city, was just doing what she could to survive.

She made herself a cheese sandwich, and went dumpster diving again. The dumpster behind her apartment building always had great books that kept her occupied. She found lots of books in the 'Dragons of Pern' series, the 'Little House in the Big Woods' series, and the 'Junie B. Jones' series, and began to read the first of her books; 'Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren'.

She'd gotten halfway through the book when Oliver queen came into the living room with a cop. "That's her officer." He explained.

Mckenna tried to run away, but the cop's longer legs caught up with her, forcing her arms behind her back, and cuffing her.

"Mckenna Tennyson, you are under arrest in the name of the law. You have the right to remain silent. If you void your right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of juvenile law.

 **Star City Police Station**

Oliver watched as they tried to interrogate the little girl. She kept using the same answers every time to answer why she'd turned to a life of crime.

She was an unwanted orphan. She never stayed in one home for too long, so she left the foster system and became a thief to support herself. When Green Arrow, Speedy, and Black Canary started showing up, it became too difficult to maintain that life style, so she became a pickpocket. She always left behind the credit and bank cards when she returned the wallets to be nice. She had Christian beliefs, and begged God for forgiveness for her sins every night after when she stole from people, and when she had some time where she didn't have too, she'd pray for the other rough-living kids in the neighborhood.

She used the same exact story every time that she was asked, and once the cops were out of the room, she took out a rosary and held it close to her heart, humming a song from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

 _I don't know if you can hear me,_

 _Or if you're even there,_

 _I don't know if you would listen,_

 _To an orphan's prayer,_

 _Yes, I know; I'm just an outcast,_

 _I shouldn't speak to you,_

 _Still I see your face and wonder,_

 _Were you once an outcast, too?_

Oliver paused his talk with Dinah to look in on the small blonde, hearing her singing, noticing the rosary in her hand and keeping his eyes on her.

 _God help the outcasts, hungry from birth,_

 _Show them the mercy, they don't get on earth,_

 _God help my people, we look to you still,_

 _God help the outcasts, or nobody will,_

She hummed softly, holding the rosary tighter in her hands. Dinah sighed, knowing what Oliver saw; a talented young girl that had no home, no family, and now, no happiness.

 _I ask for nothing; I can get by,_

 _But I know so many, less lucky than I,_

 _Please help my people, the poor and downtrod,_

 _I thought we all were, the children of God,_

 _God help the outcasts, children, of God,_

As the seven-year-old started to put the necklace back into her pocket, and officer came in and started to take the necklace from her, saying it was needed as evidence.

"No!" She screamed. "It's all that I have of my birth family; please!"

Oliver stepped in at this moment and said, "Give it back to her; I'm dropping the charges."

Mckenna and the cop both stared at the billionaire in shock.

"You sure Mr. Queen?" the cop asked.

Ollie nodded, taking the rosary from the cop and giving it back to Mckenna.

"Thank you." The small girl breathed. "Thank you so much."

"Mckenna," she turned her attention to Dinah. "How would you like to come stay with me and Oliver at Queen Manor?"

She looked away, not wanting to trust the woman before her. Every family that she'd been in had come off as sweet and caring, but eventually, they all gave her up and sent her away to another home. Because of this, she'd learned to rely only on herself; to not bother with anybody else, because they'd all let her down eventually.

Then again… Nobody had ever stood up for her the way that Mr. Queen had just done. She stood up from where she sat on her knees and said, "On one condition. You have to promise that you'll never, ever send me away to another home; ever."

Dinah nodded. "Of course Mckenna. I promise."

After Mckenna had gotten everything back from the cops, she followed Dinah and Oliver back to her apartment, where she gathered all of her clothes, and then went with them back to Queen Manor.

She'd never understood why rich people needed such large houses; it didn't make sense to her. They rarely invited people over, they usually lived by themselves with very few companions, and they really didn't need that much space. Why couldn't they let people use the mansions as orphanages? It would make far more sense than living on their own, at least in Mckenna's mind.

The room wasn't anything special other than the size, and probably designer everything else. The walls had dark purple wall paper, and the floor was lined with soft, fluffy white carpet. The bed was a kingsize, and had medium blue blankets and white sheets.

Mckenna didn't really eat much with her new 'family'; barely got half a hot dog down before deciding to go to bed. She put on a bright purple nightgown that completely contrasted the room, put her rosary around her neck, and then went to bed.

She had a family… Or, at least for now. It really depended on whether or not she chose to stay, and if they could find a way to get her guard down; to show that they truly cared about her.


	2. Author's Note

Before anyone barks at me, yes; I know these technically aren't allowed on here, but oh well.

I'm here to say that I'm sorry; I know I haven't updated in forever, but some stories are being put on hiatus since it's school time/ I've lost interest in them for the time being.

For those of you that can handle me being a horrible updater, thank you.

Also, I am rewriting Code: Ghost Girl at some point since I feel that my writing has gotten better and I feel like I could probably tell Dannie's story a lot better now; same goes for Kid Martian, What Happened During the Skip, and New Beginnings, especially since Johnny will no longer exist.. I just feel like I don't use Johnny that much; sorry.

I will however be working on a creative writing extra credit project for my family(since I do online school and just want to write something special for them) and posting it here so that they can grade it and tell me what they think of my writing. It's based on a new Marvel/YJ OC that I'm working on; please bear with me.

I know I'm probably the most horrid updater ever, and I'm sorry, but school and this project for my family have to become my main priorities at least when I'm not on breaks.

Signing Off,

-MckennaTennyson-Harper12


	3. Cats Are Where It's At

**Uh... Hey guys... sup... Please don't yell at me for taking two years to update this... I swear I... Wait, no, that won't work; I have zero good reasons for not updating sooner. Look, up until recently, I just lost my passion to write altogether, but especially for this character. I hope that this chapter is good enough to make up for the extensive wait.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Mckenna, Newton, and Annalyse Jingle.**

* * *

Mckenna was thus far not enjoying her time with Dinah and Oliver. It had been almost two years, and at this point, she could've basically committed murder and they wouldn't notice her. Spraypainting on the fence? She got sent to her room, and the house staff repainted the fence to cover it. Suspension from school? They sweet-talked the principal to keep it off her record. No matter what she did, she barely got their attention. She understood that they were busy, she really did, but even when they were around, it was like they were on another planet or something. This had been plaguing her thoughts for the last hour or so, and kept her from figuring out what she was going to say at her student devotional at the high school winter camp this weekend. With a sigh of irritation, she decided to go downstairs and grab herself some watermelon from the fridge, or maybe an orange from the fruit bowl.

Trekking down the stairs quietly, she could hear Dinah and Oliver arguing about something or other. At first, she thought it was just about dinner, what the theme of Oliver's upcoming charity gala was going to be, or some other such nonsense, but as she grew able to understand what they were saying, she found herself suddenly interested, mainly upon the mention of her name.

"Oliver, Mckenna's on the fence about us anyways; do you really want to do this?" Dinah demanded. "She's been wary of this arrangement since we took her in two years ago."

"Dinah, it's for the best. And Roy is a good kid; he needs this place as much as she does." Oliver pointed out, gently resting a hand on Dinah's shoulder.

Mckenna drew in a sharp breath. She knew it. Maybe this _had_ been the longest she'd ever stayed in the same place, but between all the hushed whispers, and the lack of attention, she knew it wouldn't last.

Grabbing the backpack she left on the stairs in case of emergencies, Mckenna quickly but quietly made her way for the door. If they wanted to replace her, then fine; she wouldn't stop them, but she wasn't about to wait around for them to ramble out some apology about how they were so sorry that it didn't work out. They finally seemed to notice her, but she didn't listen to their shouts, simply running as fast and far as she could.

"No way I'm going back." she mumbled when she got to a bus stop, sitting down.

 _Mew!_

She sat up a bit and looked around. Was that...?

 _Mew!_

It was! It was a kitten! Mckenna quickly looked around spotting a large cardboard box outside an old bar. It was a rotten hive for some of the worst people imaginable, so she really hoped that wasn't where the poor kitty was, but ran over to check it out anyways. Sure enough, laying on a thin layer of newspapers, looking hurt, cold, hungry and miserable, was a small calico kitten. The poor thing reeked of beer, so she could only imagine what the sweet kitty had been through. She gently picked him up and then went back over to the bus stop, where her bag sat on the bench. "Easy kitty. Let's get you some water, and then you can have the can of tuna in my bag, and we'll take you to a vet so they can make sure you're okay." Mckenna found an old sweatshirt that no longer fit her in the bag, and then gently wrapped it around the kitty to warm him, fishing through her bag until she found a small custard bowl. Hey, she'd been prepared to run away; she could've pawned the bowl and lived off it for months! She poured some of the contents of her water bottle into the dish, holding the small mammal close enough to drink and then looking one-handed through her bag until she found the can of tuna. Luckily, it hadn't been opened, so it was still good.

Once the calico had finished whatever amount of water it wanted, she dumped out the water and placing the contents of the tuna can into it instead, letting the kitten eat. She smiled as he ate. She didn't know much else about what was okay for a cat to eat; just that tuna was the only cat-safe food she had with her. As the kitten finished its meal and settled down into the sweatshirt bed to rest, Mckenna sighed and dumped what little was left of the tuna into a spare ziploc, gathering up her things quickly. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and proceeded to once again wrap the sweatshirt around the kitten gently before making a run for the nearest vet office she knew of, which happened to be pretty close to her school. She knew of it because she passed it every day on her way to first period. She also knew that thankfully, the owner of the small clinic kept herself available at all hours in case of an emergency.

Running inside, she heard dear Dr. Jingle run over. "Mckenna, sweetie! Oliver and Dinah are worried sick! I-I have to call them right away!"

"Dr. Jingle, please, they can wait a little longer; you need to take a look at this poor little sweetie!" Mckenna argued, unwrapping the kitten from her sweatshirt. The kitten seemed to whine in discomfort, as if to object to the loss of warmth and that safe feeling.

The sweet old woman gasped, putting the phone down before she finished dialing. "Good gracious, where did you find the poor thing?" She said simply, taking the small creature into her hands.

"He was in a box outside this sports bar in the Glades. If I had to wager, I'd say a bunch of drunks kicked him around a bit and doused him in whatever was left in their beer bottles." Mckenna admitted. "Look, if you want, I'll them myself, but please take care of Newton? He needs your help Doc."

The elderly woman tried to argue, but simply told her to call the pair of blondes as she took the calico back to an exam room.

The barely-teen sucked in a deep breath to prepare herself for the lack of a scolding she was about to get, dialing the barely familiar number slowly and listening to it ring, quite quickly hearing a frantic Oliver answer the phone and jumping as she heard the panic in his voice, and the thunder outside. It was raining. Huh... no wonder she was so cold and Dr. Jingle was so panicked.

"Dr. Jingle? Have you heard anything about Mckenna?" Oliver said quickly.

Mckenna froze for a moment. Based upon the argument she'd heard, and the fact that she'd never seen them anyways, she hadn't expected them to care what happened to her, let alone this much.

"Um... Hey Ollie... It's me... I um... I'm at the clinic... probably not going anywhere anytime soon, so... I guess if you want to find me so bad... now you know where to go." She said simply.

"If you move an inch, you're going to be grounded for the rest of your life!" Dinah said, clearly having stolen the phone from her boyfriend. "We thought you ran for the train and took the first one; we're halfway to Opal City!"

"Well... I won't leave the building. I've got a friend here, and I need to make sure he's okay. See you soon I guess." the young blonde said simply, hanging up the landline and lifting her head as Dr. Jingle entered the room. "How's Newton?"

"He's going to be just fine thanks to you? What did you give him?" the vet said simply with a small smile. "He's so content that he slept through a bath to get that beer smell off him and having a leg realigned so it could heal!"

"All I gave him was some water and a bit of tuna." Mckenna admitted. "C-Can I see him?"

The elderly woman nodded and took Mckenna back to a private boarding room, where the little kitten laid in a soft bed and has a light swaddling blanket draped over him. He looked much better, between the happy look on his face, the purr in his throat and his coat now being the pristine white that it was supposed to be.

Mckenna grinned, happy that the little calico was doing so much better. She looked back at her now-favorite veterinarian. "Is it okay if I stay with him? And do the scouting for his family once he's well enough to have one?"

"Of course!" Dr. Jingle said gleefully. "I think Newton here would like that as well. He seems to have grown attached to you. Just look."

At this moment, the blonde noticed that the kitten had placed its left forepaw on the hand that her been delicately stroking his chest fur. "Awww! He's so precious. Screw finding him a family; I'm gonna find a way to convince Dinah and Oliver to let _me_ keep him... if they don't send me to another home after everything I put them through that is."

Mckenna slowly laid on the floor beside the tiny kitty's bed, using her backpack as a hard, lumpy, uncomfortable pillow, and drifting off.

* * *

When Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen arrived at the vet clinic, they were prepared to scold their foster daughter for many things; running off in the middle of the night, not giving them a chance to explain, running away altogether, and acting so detached on the phone. What they couldn't have prepared themselves for was sweet old Annalyse Jingle draping a blanket over Mckenna, who laid sleeping next to a cat bed, with one hand draped lazily over a little calico kitten, and the other resting under the small cat's tiny paw.

Dinah was the first to break out of her daze, walking over to the teen and gently shaking her awake. The girl groaned, blue eyes slowly opening. Mckenna sighed. "I'm in big trouble, aren't I?"

"You have no idea how big." Dinah said simply. "Let's go to the waiting room so we don't wake the cat."

"His name is Newton." Mckenna said simply, but she complied nonetheless, jumping a bit when the little kitty jumped between the pair, hissing at Dinah and standing in front of Mckenna protectively. To the young teen, it honestly seemed cliche. Sure, she'd saved him, but did that really warrant him being so protective of her so fast. Then again, she did remember reading somewhere that kittens tended to imprint upon people pretty quickly when they were this little, so maybe it was possible for him to be so protective so quickly.

Dinah simply sighed. "Obviously, he's not letting you out of his sight, so you may as well pick him up now."

Mckenna just nodded, picking the small feline up-being careful of his broken leg- and carrying him out to the waiting room with her. Unlike any previous time when she'd run off or gotten into trouble, she was actually getting in trouble. Part of her was glad for this-for the first time in two years, it seemed like they'd acknowledged her existence- but the other part was just thinking about how ashamed she was that she'd run away without hearing the rest of the story from them. Then again, if she hadn't run off, Newton would probably still be in that cardboard box, reeking of beer and his own pee.

It was probably a good hour before Dinah and Oliver finally calmed down, Oliver speaking first. "Mckenna, if you had stayed, you'd have heard that Roy isn't going to be your replacement, or any such thing. He's going to be your brother."

"You mean another kid that you're all buddy-buddy with for the first month or so and then forget about completely? This is the first interest either of you have taken in me since we met!" The girl announced, making both of the adults flinch. "Every time I got in trouble, did you really think it was just standard foster kid rebellion? It wasn't. I wanted so badly for you guys to notice me; to be there, even if I had to be in trouble for it to happen! But no, every single time, whatever I did just got swept under the rug somehow, and I'd be back to square one trying to figure out how to make the people that supposedly care about me acknowledge my existence! Because even when you were there, it was like you were on another planet. I waited this long to run away because some small part of me hoped and dreamed that maybe, just maybe, someday you would notice me again, and we'd be a family. Do you not get it? I don't want a place to live that'll never throw me out. I want a home, and a family that will love me, not an empty house and people that are never there when I need them."

The pair exchanged a look before Dinah pulled her into a tight hug. "Mckenna... we've been distant for a reason. We've been in a tough court battle to officially adopt you for the past two years. Every time that we think we've got it sealed, some other person that's been trying to get custody of you comes along and sabotages everything."

Mckenna's heart skipped a few beats. They'd been in a tough custody battle for her. They'd been doing everything that they could to keep her; devoting all of their time and energy to it... And she'd been behaving like a spoiled brat, only making it harder for them.

"I... I'm so sorry... I had no idea... why didn't you say anything?" the girl said simply, pushing a strand of her short blonde hair away from her face.

"We didn't want to bring it up until we could finalize it. Didn't want to give you false hope for something that might not happen." Oliver explained. "We found Roy by accident. We wanted to take him in not just for him, but for you too, so you'd have some company... We didn't mean to get distant in the process of officially adopting you."

"No, please, don't apologize! I'm the one who's been acting out like a brat when I didn't have all the details; if anyone should apologize, it's me!" Mckenna argued.

Dinah gently wiped a tear from the girl's tanned cheek. "Mckenna... I know it's off topic, but... I need to ask you something."

"Anything, especially if it makes up for the way I've been acting." The teen said hurriedly.

The Sonic Screamer hugged her tighter. "Not long after you came to be with me and Oliver, you said that you heard these other foster kids that were a fair bit older than you say something that you came to believe. You said that home is the place that when you leave it, you just miss it." the younger blonde simply nodded. "Well... have you found that at all?"

Mckenna sniffled and nodded. "Yeah... I have... Home is wherever you guys are. I don't think I realized it before, but even when you guys were at the house but distant, I never really felt alone... The only time I felt alone, was when you guys were gone... So... Um... Can we go home?"

Oliver and Dinah shared a look before both smiled. "Yeah... All four of us can. We see how you look at that cat. We're keeping it." Oliver said with a smile.

Mckenna grinned. "I promise that I'll take good care of him. I'll clean his litter box, bathe him, feed him, all the necessary stuff; I swear it!"

"Good. Because he's your responsibility now Kenna. Take good care of him." Dinah said softly.

And as soon as Newton was well enough, they brought him home to Queen Manor.

* * *

 **Mailbox time!**

 **Syafiq: No, her mom isn't Emma. If you want to know who her folks are, you can either check out her bio at Kid-Martian on deviantart, or keep reading as I hopefully update again before another two years pass.**

 **Mike Uzumaki-Heartfilla: Wait and see.**

 **Angela: Thanks for writing... even though it was two years ago... heh, heh... heh... anywho, how've you been friend?**

 **Guest: thanks, I'm trying my best.**

 **SeleneAlice: Voila!**

 **I'll try to get the next chapter done soon.**

 **Signing off,**

 **MckennaTennyson-Harper12**


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